I have released a slightly updated version of Kaiju Meat. It’s not really a remix as much as it is a couple of technical corrections and undoing a compromise made originally because I didn’t have time to build the automation to do what I actually wanted to do. Now I have.

People who listen mostly on earbuds will hear the most difference, mostly during the bridge. People who listen on laptop speakers, second most, same place. Anna says it sounds better but wasn’t sure why. That’s exactly what I wanted.

This is all prompted by a project. Yep, there’s a reason. Stay tuned, hopefully soon. 😀

I just came back from The Desolation of Smaug – well, about an hour ago as I type this – and I just have to say here that I thought it was epic. I thought the first one was pleasant enough, but I enjoyed this one throughout, not the least of which for those little moments of wonder that got to play out briefly, here and there – and at the end, in broad swipes of amazement.

You see, they desperately, desperately needed to sell Smaug in a way that Smaug has never been sold to me, even in the novel. Smaug needed to be convincing, and terrifying, and he was, and it was beautiful.

Also, I found Tauriel to be a great addition and am thinking about my cosplay options; haters may step off right now. She’s complicated and interesting and yeah, frankly, representation matters, and I’m glad we didn’t have to go through seven hours of fantasy film without one woman.

There’s all sorts of added stuff, not just Tauriel. Mostly – not entirely, but mostly – I found these to be positives. We finally get some motivation for all the combatants in the War of the Five Armies; the dwarves have motivations of people, rather than caricatures; all these character additions are making that whole fight make a lot more sense from a motivation standpoint.

As for these purists out there who whine, “It’s not like the book!” in one variation or another? All I can say is no shit, purists. For one thing, I am going to remind you: Bilbo is an unreliable narrator in canon. He changed his own retelling. Like between the first and second editions of the novel, The Hobbit, where he went from “finding the ring lying about” to “that whole thing with Gollum.”

Kind of important, isn’t that? Wouldn’t really leave that out, would you? That’s the definition of an unreliable narrator. So, knowing that, how much else did he not bother to mention? It is reasonable to guess quite a bit.

There and Back Again is Bilbo telling his version for his people that makes him the total hero of everything. Also, it’s kind of the version for kids. That’s going to leave a lot of bits out. Adding other bits back in – particularly from the appendices – tells more of the story, not less, and doesn’t “get it wrong;” it tells another person’s version of it.

Which gets to my real point:

Tolkein explicitly and specifically wanted this to be a broad, wide-reaching English-language mythos, like the ones the Germanic peoples have. A defining element of myth is that it gets told and retold and changed and reinterpreted and fit to what people need and want when it’s being retold. That’s the whole point of a mythos. Going on about “changing it is wrong!!” is missing the entire point of Mr. Tolkien’s actual stated endeavour.

That’s not an argument for liking this retelling, if you don’t like it. There’s plenty not to like, depending upon your tastes. Yes, the film’s pacing is a little weird (but no less weird than the book), yes, some parallels are a bit too heavy-handed. That’s all fine.

But that it’s added to – and in some cases changed from – the book; that’s not “disrespecting the material.” Not in this case. In this case, it’s the exact opposite. It’s proof of Mr. Tolkien achieving his goal. It’s one of those cases where reinterpretation isn’t just okay; it’s a tribute.

eta: Anna has a long review post, here.

…is under attack! For the first time since 2005.

Yes, that’s right, THE POWERPUFF GIRLS RETURN TO TELEVISION JANUARY 20TH. Mark your goddamn calendars because it is about time.

And if you’ve wondering what that has to do with us, the band – well, here’s a refresher course. The 28 second mark is particularly relevant.

Cheap-pistol-case-as-microphone-case also works well for ribbon microphones and their pre-amps, which is actually more important than for the small-can condenser mic I showed before. Ribbons need extra protection! Plus, this keeps the preamp and the mic in the same place.

 

Y’know, a quality rigid microphone case, with lots of padding and room for accessories – that’ll set you back a good $30-$40. And unless you buy one already matched with your gear, you’ll have to cut the foam to suit your application yourself.

On the other hand, a quality compact pistol case from a reputable maker? That’ll cost as little as $9.

Guess what I did?

Welcome to economies of scale. You’re welcome.

Been fiddling with the new pre-amp and ribbon microphone I built. Also with alternate tunings; I’ve found that tuning up a half-step really resonates my zouk; I’ll be doing that on the soundtrack album for Something’s Coming.

Reminder: everything on Bandcamp is still set to pay-what-you-like download. Grab while grabbing is good! Some of you have been and some of you have thrown tip money too, for which I think you muchly. ^_^

I also found that dropping three steps but keeping the high string on E on the zouk results in kind of an E sus 2 opening tuning; it interacts interestingly playing against a mandolin in standard tuning. I made a quick recording of a simple progression – it’s rough, but you get the idea.

That’s recorded on the ribbon microphone and new pre-amp, too if you’re wondering what those sound like. I’ve no idea how to use this mic to best effect yet, but I’m liking the sound so far.

I’d like to hope this glass-window noise-cancellation device could work. It’s only a prototype right now, and I really have to wonder how much of that is purely-computer-prototype vs. actually extant. I tried to make something like it, once, using purely analogue circuitry, and utterly – and I do mean utterly – failed.

But wouldn’t that be nice? Damn.

I swear to you, I am not reorienting the compass in this video. I’m keeping it as much at the same angle relative to the room walls as I can.

Whelp

there y’are

I guess the mistletoe is gonna explode again, too.

I know about metal effect on compasses, but this looks more like every piece of metal in my studio is magnetic now. Honestly – these mic stands are magnetic enough to use the compass to identify their poles. My shock mounts, too. And I think I can feel the magnetic attraction to my wire-cutters on some of them.

Is that normal? It doesn’t seem like it could be normal, because I don’t see how anyone could use high-gain preamps and cables. I remove the mic stands; no radio on the pre-amp. I bring one back: radio on the pre-amp. Magnetic induction, somehow.

I am officially at a loss.

Y’know what? All my Bandcamp downloads are now set to pay what you like, including zero. Also including one MILLION dollars, but I suspect most people are more interested in the zero part.

Physical CDs are discounted, too.

I did this for the Scalzi crowd a few days ago; some of them have been taking advantage of it, and you should get a turn. G’wan, download, hit the tip jar if you want, and if you don’t – I’m a supervillain. Who’m I to judge? XD

I’m still chasing down radio-frequency interference ghosts in the preamp – yes, I am still the Ghost Host – but I did promise a ribbon microphone build post! And the microphone seems to be behaving fine, so why not?

First, you should know what a ribbon microphone is. It’s the first truly high-fidelity microphone design; those RCA diamond-shaped microphones you seen in old films? Ribbon microphones.

Yep, these things

They’re the only high-fidelity microphone you can make at home, if you have all the parts; there are no active components. They’ve never fallen completely out of use, having a characteristic sound which is particularly good for strings, classical instruments, and, curiously, metal; recently, they’ve come back into fashion.

Perhaps you see my attraction.

The active element is a nonmagnetic conductive ribbon, corrugated, and stretched between two high-power natural magnets. The vibration that sound waves in the air induce in the ribbon creates an electrical current, which is your signal. It’s a very low power signal, and the ribbon is crazy thin, making the microphone very delicate – I won’t be taking this microphone out.

So let’s make one! This one’s built from an Austin Microphones kit, but you can just get the design plans and roll your own parts list if you want. Read more